In general, an automobile engine has an injector that injects fuel and returns remaining portion of the fuel back to the fuel tank. Also, a connector is used to couple a return hose to the injector port.
The quick connector device is coupled to both the return hose and injector port. The remaining fuel is returned to the fuel tank through the return hose.
The quick connector device includes a connector body that has a T-shape, where the connector body has two fluid hose connectors located at two ends and an injector port connector located at the middle bottom section. A locking member is coupled to the injector port connector of the connector body.
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of one conventional quick connector device and FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of another conventional quick connector device.
In the conventional devices, as depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2, the locking member (120) (220) is pushed toward the connector body (110) (210) so that the injector port is coupled to the injector port connector (111) (211) of the connector body (110) (210).
In the case of the quick connector device (100) in FIG. 1, to couple the injector port connector (111) to the injector port, the injector port connector (111) of the connector body (100) should be inserted into the injector port before the locking member (120) is pushed. However, an inexperienced person may not follow the proper assembly procedures. Also, when repairing the quick connector device (100), a linear action may impose a stress on the portion where the locking member (120) engages the injector port, causing damage to the engaging portion of the locking member (120) and making it a hard task to disassemble the quick connector device (100).
In the case of quick connector device (100) in FIG. 2, the injector port connector (121) of the connector body (210) should be inserted into the injector port before the locking member (220) is pushed to be coupled to the connector body. Thus, it is not easy to determine whether the locking member (220) is locked to the injector port or not. Also, a technician may easily break the locking member (220) and injector port during the assembly process. In addition, the portion of the locking member (220) that engages the injector port has a shape of a simple bump, making it a hard task to dissemble the quick connector device for repair.